stein



Feb. 3, 1931. s F, STEIN 1,790,955

APPARATUS FOR ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE Filed June 29, 1927 2 sheds-sheet 17 S. F. STEIN Feb. 3,'1931.

APPARATUS FOR ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE Filed Jne 29, 1927 2 sheets-*sheet 2 Awami-@S telephone system nd the phonographic apparatus for advertisi g purposes.

Patented Feb; 3, 19,31

smUEL'r. sr'nnmfor w1LLIAMsroRT,-1`=ENNSYLVANIA ArrAmTUs Fon ELECTRICAL rRANsMI-ssIoN orv INTELLIGENGE Application, filed June 29,

My invention relates to the. utilization of both wired and wireless telephone systems for transmitting sounds emitted or produced by phonographic apparatus, and, broadlyconsidered, it has to do with the automatic control of the connection of such apparatus with the subscribers circuits, and, in its narrowest aspect,` it `has to do with the utilization of the In the annexed rawings.

, Fig. 1, is a view- ,grammatic in nature, il-

lustrating an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a preferred 1J construction of phonographic irecord feed mechanism;

Fig. 3 is asection on line 3-3'ofFig. 2;

Fig. ltis an end elevation showing the record driving mechanism;

'the application'of radio to my invention;

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views yof a time switch that may be usedltherewith. In producing my invention I have aimed to satisfy, and to utilize for advertisingv purposes, the desire of many people 'to ask the that contains announcements of l Vtevery minute, or other regular interval say A and a second phonograph' these two 'line leading to the switch. maybe given a .number or time of the dayof the operators at telephone exchanges, Whichnow is prohibited because ofthe burden of extra Work the response of the operators tovsuch inquiries places upon them and without compensation to the telephone company for the service thereby rendered. To this end, my invention, as shown in Fig. 1, briefly described, contemplates the employment of a phonograph with a record the timefor for twelve hours, with a record containing the advertisement which may be merely the name of the adver-` tiser, and timedto call the name in the intervals between @the time announcements, and phonographsfbeing situated so that the calls they emit will be received by a conveniehtly located transmitter on a telephone board. This line averbal designation as for example, theword time, so that' a subscrib'r, desiring to learn the hour,wil1

Asignal centralv in the usual way, calling for Fig. 5 1s a view similar'to Figi'. 1 illustrating time relation; 12, the

' plug P is inserted inthe 1927. serial No. 202,376.r

subscriber. By having a separate record for the advertisersname, .the records can be changed from time to time, to change names, 65. without the: necessity of making 'a new record for the time announcements, so that one of the time announcing records will serve for f 'a great numberof name records. Referring to the drawings, 10,designates the phonograph with the time announcing'record; 11, the honograph lwith the name record, the

geared together vtogthe same driv- S, so that they will run in proper transmitter adjacent 15 but with no means to connect with the phono-fb' graphs; 1.3 the switch board at central, and 14 the receiverof a calling subscriber. y I- prefer the stylus of each phonograph normally' out of contact with its record and so automatically placed in contact therewith only when there is a call for time, and therefshaft byneedless wear of the needles and record may loe-avoided so that theyy may be used without' change for a practically indefinitel 85 time. This may be accomplished in various ways. Thus the tone arm 15 of the phonograph may be pivoted to the frame so that normally the needles of the sound box 16 is kept lifted above the record 17 (which in the 90 machine shown in the drawing is a cylinder) and by an electromagnet 18 is moved 'to place. the needles in the record groove, when the f jack J by the switch board operator, said magnet 18, being in a circuit that has a switch 19 that is closed on the insertion of the plug andy remains closed until the plug is withdrawn. The magnet armature 20 is connected by a spring 21 with the tone arm, sothat though the armature 1&0l

time, in the one case, and the name, in the other case. A screw 22 is provided to cause the lengthwise travel of the tone arm (and with it the magnet andarmature) the carriage 23 being provided with a pin 24 that engages the thread. Said pin 24 is movable into and out of the thread groove, and it is auto-- matically vmoved out of the groove. at the end of the travel, by engaging a cam surface 25 at the end of the screw thread. When the pin 24 is thus lifted out of the thread groove,

\ the carriage, sliding on rodsv 23a is automatically returned to its starting point by the action of a `spring or a weight W, against the pull of which the screw feeds the carriage.

,A spring actuated latch, 26, engages the shoulder 27 on the pin and holds the pin out of con/tact with the thread during the return movement, and' when the latter Kis completed,

the latch strikes a projection 28 ismoved to release the pin, which thereupon drops into working engagement with the screw. It i is not necessary thatv the needle for the name .record travel, because that record can bea sin le circular path and not a-spiral.

nasmuc'h as the phonograph is connected with a calling subscriber` at central, pre' cisely as a personal subscriber is, which is by the ordinaryA use of the switchboard upona call to central, and as such call might be made during the return travel of the needle or stylus to the starting point of the record,

1 it is important to prevent the dropping of the stylus or needle into contact with the record, during such return travel, for then the needle would injuriously scrape over the record. I,

f therefore, provide means forfpreventing this,v

which maybe given various orms. I prefer anl automatic device for this purpose, and

f one which is actuated by, or is under the control of `the, phonograph, and which, in the wembodiment of myV invention illustrated in the drawings, will cause the circuit that includes the magnet 18 to be broken during the period of the return travel of the needle, and closed during the time of the forward travel of the needle. `Describing now, in detail, the particular control device shown, it includes a switch 29 in the circuit of the magnet 18, which is preferably the telephone circuit, which is of the form having two sliding buttons 30 and 31 that protrude from the switch box on thel opposite sides thereof, so that the button 30 is in position to be engaged by the carriage 23 just when the latter about completes its forward travel, or carries the needle to the record, and thereby the switch is operated and the magnet circuit is broken. rlhe other button 31 is in position to be struck and moved by a lever 32 which is connected by a rod 33 with a lever 34 pivoted near or at the point where the carriage 23 starts on its forward travel over the record, so that on returning to such point the carriage 23` will v strike and move the lever 34 and through the link rod 33 will rock the lever 32 in the direction to cause it to engage and move the button 31 and thereby operate the switch 29 to close the magnet circuit and place all in readiness for the automatic placing of the needle into contact with the record when a subscriber calls and in response thereto, the phonograph circuit is plugged with that of such calling subscriber.-

0f course, by suitable gearing the record and the feed screw are driven at the proper speed, which will be relatively fast for the record and relatively slow for the feed screw, and as this will result in dider'ential travel of stylus or needle and screw engaging pin 24, which would cause twisting and bind-ing, l, momentarily, disengage the needle from the record groove at each revolution of the record, when a cylinder., rlhis may be done by resting the tone arm 15 upon a rod 35 parallel-with the cylinder axis that is pivoted at its ends to the phonograph frame 36 and havinga radial finger 37 in the path of a cam tooth 38 at the end of the cylinder, which, by the revolution of the latter, acts on the finger 37 and rocks the bar 35 upward and thereby the tone arm is swung upward and lifts the needle from the record. Being thus freed from the record, any lateralJ pressure due to the differential travel of record and feed screw will be relieved, and, as soon as the tooth. 38 passes the linger 37, the needle at 'once drops into engagement with the record groove at a point with which it alines. To

allow lslight lateralv motion of the tone arm for the proper adaptation of the needle to the record groove, I may place a spring be tween the' side of the tone arm land one or both ofthe adjacent uprights 39 in holes in the tone arm pivoting pin 40 iswhich mounted.

Since, by my invention, the'phonograph means may have a circuit that corresponds t?, a personal subscribers circuit such means c n be located at the place of business of the subscriber arranging for the service, if desired, so that it is wholly under his own control.

I do 'n'ot limit myself to the cylinder or to any particular type of phonograph or` sound reproducing mechanism; to the details of construction I have shown and described.

' To reduce friction and save wear the p0rtion of the pin, 24, acting in the groove may be provided with an anti-friction device such as a ball or roller to touch the groove sides y and bottom or withoil supplying means.

My invention is applicable to Aautomatictelephone systemsas well as manual systems and it is within its scope, and in both systems, v

to make provision for enabling several subscribers to be connected at the same time, with the phonograph circuit, so that onel will not have to wait for another,

talk, in addition to giving the time, is of .any length.` Thus, as shown in Fig. 1 there ofthe matter onthe time and. name records, see Fig. 5. Todo this the sounds from the respective phonographs will be delivered to a microphone at a broadcasting staton, and,

of course, the time-of-dayand the otherjmat. ter will'be received at all radio receivers that' are tuned in with that station. And by keepj ing the receivers 'tuned in they become' the the time, with the difference from-an ordinary equivalent of a clock in constantly denoting clock, that the time is announced verbally, and to th ear instead of to theeye.

By using a clock at the broadcasting station which has chimes, the sound of the chimes may be given directly to the microphone, and be 'either supplementary to the phonograph announce` ment, or as a thing separate or independent.

Thetransmitting apparatus at the broadcastin station may consist of a time mecha nism, see Fig'sf and 7, two phonograph mechanisms, each with its own sty1us, 160,v the time mechanism operating a switch with contacts that,respectivel I' control the ste onograph recor s,l

by-step rotation of the p 17 0, and close the circuits through the vstylus operating magnets, 180, to 'place these at the minute intervals in contact with theirA respective records and hold them long enough to cause the timeandthe other matter to be uttered into the microphone, 120, andthence,

transmitted to a 'l distant receiver, 140,

j equipped, as usual with phone headset and circuit only at the chime intervals, so that loud speaker connections.' A good arrangementwith both the head set and loud speaker when the clock has chimes, time switch, 41in the loud speaker connec# tion which will connect the loud speaker in the announcement ofthe time will be heard only through the head set. VHowever, by a shuntrhaving 'a switch, 42, the time switch', 41, may be cut out, and the loud speaker connected, so thatv it will give every time announcement including the chimes thatis broadcasted. An excellent time switch mechanism for the apparatus is shownsomewhat especially when the .rotation of the feed device for the be put to the ordinary use without any is to provide al necessary diagrammatically in 6'and 7. Geared .to and driven-from the clock, C, by connections'notnecessary to be described, are four the disc, 44, controlling the circuit to the magnet, 180, that controls the stylus of the 4 45, controlling advertiser record; the disc, the circuit of the devices for the step-by-step nouncer, 'and the disc, 46, controlling the circuit for the step-by-step rotation of the feed device of the advertiser. The circuitwhich is controlled by the switch, 45, includes a solenoid, 47, the core, 48, of which is engaged by a lever, v49,'having between its ends a fulcrum or pivot, 50, and which carries a pawl, 51, adapted to engage one at a time, the ratchet teeth of a wheel, 52, which is fixed to theshaft of therotary feed screw, 53, of the time announcer like the screw, 22. When the'circuit is closed through thesolenoid, 47

by the switch disc, 45, the following move.r

ment vof the core, 48, will rock the lever, 49, on its pivot, 50, and the pawl, 51, tooth of the ratchet wheel, 52, the latter'yvill be rotated the desired extent and upon the breaking of the circuit by the switch disc, 45, the lever, 49, will be pulled in the opposite direction by a coilspring, 54, to retract the pawl, 51, for engagement withl a fresh tooth,

the pawl, 51, tripping over the adjacent ratchet tooth. To change the stroke of the lever,`49, for adjustment purposes, the fulcrum 56, is carried by an adjustable plate, 55. iPreferably thel core, 48, has anyantifriction roller, 56, to bear against the lever, 49. The lever, 49, preferably has a handle, 57, by which it may be rocked by hand to rotate the feed screw, 53, should that be necessaryl for timing purposes. ment can only be forward, and as backward adjustment may be necessary, the ratchet wheel, 52, may have a-handle, 5 8, for turning ,the feed screw,

I 53, backward as well as forward. For backward movement, the pawl,

D51, must be lifted from engagement with the ratchet wheel, 52. The circuit controlled by theswitch disc, 45, includes mechanism precisel steplby-step rotationto the feed device of the advertiser, but it Yhas not been considered to repeat the illustration in the drawing.

Preferably switch dis'c, 46, has a hand switch, 59, to enable the' advertiser feed mechanism at will to be placed out of operation. This enables the repetition as long as desired of the same advertisement. It is also of advantage in changing the time relation of the time announcer and the advertiser, so that on diferent days, for example, thetime of day when time anengage a That adjust- V like that just described or imparting announced may have associated with` it the mitter, which will 'transmit messages or medew names of di'erentadvertisers.' .As one of the sounds to any other telephone subscriber conadvantageous uses to which apparatus emneoted therewith. It will be seen that by the b'odying my invention may be put in order use of radio, very great simplification of 'ap-A to secure the greatest possible benefit and reparatus is possible for wide-spread of univerturn from the advertisements,v is to oier sal transmissionof time and advertising matprizes to listeners-in, who will send a writtenter therewith.

time record, which would result in th report to `the advertisers of the time and' Preferably each phonograph mechanism, the subject matter of, a particular advertiseas shown in Fig: 5, is equipped with a switch, ment, it is desirable to vary the relation of 290, corresponding to the switch, 29, of Figs. time rand subject'matter announced, so-that l and?.A

a listener-in cannot determine in advance and Whlle I have described the transmission of thus render a report not on the basis of what @100k Chimes directly from thel chimes of the he has actually heard, but on what he has clock, 1t, of course, will be understood that Worked out, the time relation of announced the. PhOIlOgIp'h record may Contain the time "and advertisement, that, Object can be ch1mes as well as verbal announcement of 1nachievedby the luse of the switch, 59. SuchteIVaS 0f tuneobject may also be achieved by. making the What I 61211111 1S advertising record shorter or longer than the i dis; ing means including separab e records and placement Of-any definite time relationbetheir respective` coacting members for sound tween time announced and advertisement, and Production adopted independently to Produce to prevent a lisneI- in taking advantage of sounds, one ofsaid records being adapted for the discoverv of any regularity of cycle. in announcing the time ,and the other record for that arrangement .it may be supplemented by announcing other matter alternately with the y the use of the switch, 59, so that there will be tune announcement, automtie means fOI '1'6- two factors to-prevent any such systematic Peatedly Placing record and its vreSPeCtVe The combination of plural sound produc-v rendition of` time and advertisement that could be taken advantage of by `a listener-in.

Although there will probably be no occasion to interrupt the announcer of time .from thev time record, yet I prefer to provide a switch, 590, inthe solenoid circuit that is controlled by the switch disc, 45,.to enable that circuit to be opened and closed 'at' will. w

An Iimportant advantage of disengagmg the stylus from the record when the record 1 has a spiral ,groove is that by the disengagement of the stylus from the record spiral, the possibility of accurate repetition of Ithe same part of therecord is assured, for the stylus',

of course, will be returned to the beginning point of the partyof the record which is to be repeated. The record groove, of course, need not be a' helix or a spiral, but can be a suc-4 v'cession of side-byeside complete circles, this last named arrangement being desirable when` repetition isdesired. When repetition is not desired, the stylus will be lifted from the circular groove to allow shifting to the next groove.. 4 v

In those cases where persons desire to have the time announcing service, but have no radio receiver, but do have a telephone, the telephone exchange serving such a person will be equipped with a radio receiver that will receive the time announcements from a central broadcasting station, andby phone connection, with the apparatus shown in Fig. l, such a subscriber will receive the timeannounced.v

along with the advertising'matter; or the exchange can make connections between a subscriber having no radio lreceiver and some other subscriber or station having a radio receiver, and a constantly open telephone transcoacting member into and out of coacting relation at dierent pointsoi" the record lbefore the completion of travel of said ceacting member over theI record, and automatic signature.

' SAMUEL F. STEIN. 

